Revision History

Spirit Airlines ceased all operations on May 2, 2026, after jet fuel prices driven by the Iran war doubled its costs and a $500 million government bailout collapsed when major creditors refused to participate. The shutdown — the first major U.S. airline failure in 25 years — left 17,000 workers unemployed, stranded thousands of passengers mid-travel, and removed the country's largest ultra-low-cost carrier from a market where it had served 30 million passengers the prior year.